The Soup Thread

The minestrone soup below is a staple of mine. I multiply the recipe by four and make it in my biggest pot (14 quart), then put it in smaller containers for the freezer. I always use chicken stock instead of water (usually canned, because I'm lazy) for the extra flavor.

https://ivu.org/recipes/italian/minestrone2-j.html

Maryn, your post reminded me that I had just made and froze a giant pot of split pea soup and had to throw it out after an extended power outage, dammit!

I also lurve pho, but with chicken broth/stock instead of beef (and with shrimp instead of beef). I usually get it at a restaurant, though. I ask them to only put in half the usual amount of noodles, so it's very low cal. All the fresh "garnishes" (mung bean sprouts, green onions, cilantro, lime, Thai basil) make a very flavorful soup- so addicting! In fact, I might go get some right now.

P.S. Also for those who like to eat out, B.J's has a wonderful chicken tortilla soup.

Ooh, I make a lentil soup with kale, which, like spinach, is green and leafy! I suppose you could just swap in spinach, though I don't know how well it'd hold up, especially with reheating. I like the kale -- especially the lacinato, but you know, try spinach if that's your thing? Also, uhm, measurements are kind of, er, flexible, as I cook by eye often, and also people like different stuff, and also also, it's soup. It will not not be the soup if you hate celery or put in more whatever, heh.

Olive oil (tablespoons to sautee)
Medium onion, chopped
Celery (three or so ribs), sliced
Pound of carrots, peeled, sliced into 1/4" rounds/coins
Brown lentils (I use dried and soak them for a few hours beforehand, or sometimes put them in a separate saucepan with enough water to cover and boil for a half hour while I prep the other stuff)
Kale (I use lacinato, a big bundle, roughly chopped, with the bigger ribs removed)
Vegetable stock, 4-6 cups
Cumin 1 tbsp
Sage 1.5 tsp dried, or bunch of fresh, roughly chopped
Coriander 1 tsp dried, or small bunch fresh chopped
Turmeric 1 tsp
Black pepper to taste
Salt to taste

Sautee the chopped onion in a few spoons of oil in a large pot, just sweat them a bit. Add in the celery and carrots, sautee for 5 or 7 minutes over medium high heat. Add salt, pepper, spices, sautee. Throw in kale, sautee for 3- 5 more minutes, until cooked down a bit. Add the vegetable stock and lentils. Bring to a boil then reduce to simmer. Simmer about 30-45 minutes, with a lid mostly on (I leave it like, ajar) until cooked. Add water if necessary.

This is the most popular soup at my house. When the weather is cold it appears on the menu about once a week. Clearly I have to watch this thread for additions to the rotation.


Italian Sausage & Tortellini Soup
Prep: 20 minutes Cook: 1h 15m

Ingredients:
1 lb Italian sausage (hot or sweet as you prefer), casings removed
1 cup onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
5 cups beef broth
1 cup water
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
8 oz (one can) tomato sauce
8 oz (one package) fresh tortellini pasta

Optionally/for houses without veggie-haters:
1/2 cup red wine
1 cup thinly sliced carrots
1 1/2 cups sliced zucchini
4 large tomatoes, peeled, seeded, chopped

Brown sausage in your Dutch oven. Remove sausage and drain, reserving 1 tablespoon of drippings.

Saute onions and garlic in drippings.

Stir in beef broth, water, (wine, tomatoes, carrots,) basil, oregano, tomato sauce and sausage. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes.

Skim fat from the surface. Stir in the zucchini. Simmer covered for 20 minutes.

Add tortellini, simmer for 10 more minutes.

Anybody remember the French onion soup at Famous Barr?

http://www.food.com/recipe/famous-barrs-french-onion-soup-607

Lentil Soup in the crock pot

4 cups of veggie broth
1 cup of lentils
1 large diced sweet potato
Half of cup each of carrots and celery
A small diced yellow onion
1/8 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp rosemary
1 tsp oregano
1 bay leaf

Put all of it into a crock pot on low and walk away for 8 to 10 hours. I've been making this for years. It's one of those foods that I start to crave when the summer fades to autumn.

I'm the soup queen!

I love to make soup, and in the winter I usually make soup at least once a week. The only problem is that I never use a recipe so it's hard to estimate ingredients and quantities. I have had a yen for borscht lately and will be making it sometime soon. If anyone is interested I can actually measure quantities and post the recipe after.

Chicken Meatball and Spinach Soup

This is a favorite at my house. Even the kids will eat it.

For the Meatballs:

1 pound ground chicken
1 beaten egg
1/3 cup breadcrumbs
1/3 cup parmesan
1-2 tablespoons dried parsley (This is a preference thing)
1 garlic clove, finely diced
Drizzle of olive oil to moisten, about 1 tablespoon
1-2 teaspoons Kosher salt
1-2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

I usually sauté up a small sample to make sure it's properly seasoned.

Form mixture into small meatballs. (Think the size of a large marble)
Bake on an olive oil-greased sheet pan at 375 for 20 minutes.

For the Soup:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 - 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 - 2 ribs of celery, chopped
1 onion, chopped
At least a gallon of homemade chicken stock, give or take.
1/4 cup white wine
Salt and pepper to taste
a few squeezes of lemon
1/2 pound of pasta (I like orzo or ditalini)
Chicken meatballs
A couple of handfuls of spinach raw spinach leaves


Sweat veggies in olive oil. (I throw some salt on there to help the process.)
When tender, add chicken stock and wine. Let soup come to a boil then turn down to a simmer.
Simmer for an hour and check seasonings. Usually now, I add the juice of at least half of a lemon.
Bring back up to a gentle boil and add pasta. Cook until done.
Add meatballs and spinach. A few stirs and the spinach wilts nicely.

Serve and enjoy!

Making & freezing homemade stock is a big thing for me. This winter, I'm hoping to change up and try my hand at dashi.

One of my all-time favorites was the lentil stew with arugula and fried egg from the Epicurious website http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/m...entil-stew-with-olive-oil-fried-eggs-50025377
INGREDIENTS

• • 2 TBSP extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for frying
  • 2 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto, finely chopped
  • 1 small carrot, coarsly chopped
  • 1 small celery rib, coarsly chopped
  • 1/2 small onion, finely diced
  • 1 large garlic clove, minced
  • 1 1/2 tsp. tomato paste
  • 1/2 pound Umbrian lentils or green lentils (1 1/4 cups)
  • 1 quart chicken broth
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 4 large eggs
  • 12 arugula leaves
  • Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and aged balsamic vinegar, for serving

PREPARATION

• • 1. In a saucepan, heat the 2 tablespoons of oil; add the prosciutto and cook over low heat until the fat has rendered. 2. In a food processor (or not), finely chop the carrot and celery. Add the vegetables to the saucepan along with the onion and garlic and cook, stirring, until the vegetables are softened, 7 minutes. Add the tomato paste and stir over moderately high heat until shiny, 1 minute. Add the lentils and 2 1/2 cups of broth and bring to a boil. Simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, until most of the broth has been absorbed, 25 minutes. Add 1 more cup of the broth and continue simmering until absorbed, 10 minutes. Add the remaining 1/2 cup broth and simmer unitl the lentils are tender and suspended in a creamy sauce, 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. 3. In a large nonstick skillet, heat a thin film of olive oil. Crack the eggs into the skillet, season with salt and cook over moderately high heat until the edges are golden, the whiltes are just set and the yolks are still runny. Spoon the lentils into shallow bowls and top with the eggs and arugula. Grate the cheese over the eggs and drizzle with balsamic vinegar. Serve right away.

@Esme Budgetbytes is one of my favorite sites, I've made that one too. Definitely a good choice!

This is one I like, it tastes exactly like loaded mashed potatoes:

Golden Potato Soup


3 c peeled and cubed potatoes
½ c chopped celery
½ c chopped onion
2 c chicken broth, cold
½ c water
1 tsp dried parsley
½ tsp salt
½ tsp minced garlic
Ground pepper
2 tsp all purpose flour
1 ½ c shredded cheddar
1 c chopped ham
¼ c heavy cream


1: Dice vegetables and sausage.


2: Put a large pot on the stove at medium heat with butter. When the butter melts and turns light golden in color, add vegetables, garlic and sausage. Sweat for 5-6 minutes until vegetables are softened and onions are translucent.


3: Add flour, cook for at least 3 minutes on medium heat.


4: Add cold chicken broth.


5: Raise heat to medium-high until it simmers. Reduce heat to medium-low and continue simmering for about 15 minutes.


6: Cube potatoes; let rest in water. Taste broth; add seasoning. Add potatoes and simmer for 15 minutes, until potatoes are smashable. Optional: Smash some potatoes to thicken soup.


7: Add cream; stir. Once cream is heated through, serve.

I've substituted andouille sausage for the ham before, that was good too.

Not a recipe for Lentil, but this has replaced my homemade Chicken Soup as my all-time "Favorite Soup" - It doesn't cool down in my area (VA) until October, so I have to wait another month, before I start making it...

Zuppa Toscana

Ingredients

• 1 lb. Hot Italian sausage, casings removed
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• Kosher or Sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 4 large russet potatoes, diced
• 1 bunch curly kale, leaves stripped and chopped
• 3/4 cup of heavy cream
• 4 slices cooked bacon, chopped
• Freshly grated Parmesan, for garnishing

Directions

• In a large pot over medium heat, cook sausage, breaking up with the back of a wooden spoon, until browned and no longer pink, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer to a plate to drain.
• Add onion to pot and let cook until soft, 5 minutes, then add garlic and cook until fragrant, 1 minute more. Season with salt and pepper. Add chicken broth and potatoes and cook until potatoes are tender, 23 to 25 minutes.
• Stir in kale and let cook until leaves are tender and bright green, 3 minutes, then stir in heavy cream, sausage, and bacon and simmer 5 minutes more.
• Season with pepper, garnish with Parm, and serve.

@Lavern- Yum! For those who like to eat out, this recipe sounds just like the Olive Garden's delicious Zuppa Toscana.

Fruitbat said:

@Lavern- Yum! For those who like to eat out, this recipe sounds just like the Olive Garden's delicious Zuppa Toscana.

Click to expand...

Tee-Hee, it is!

my fav soup is home made Italian Wedding Soup. (i'm italian by the way)...and we have it every thanksgiving!

A great soup for summer (what's left of it) would be one of the German fruit based soups, served cold, known as Kaltschale, literally, "cold bowl". You can make it out of almost any kind of fruit, or any mixture of fruits, and it's quite easy. The result is very, very tasty and very, very refreshing. It's easy enough to find a recipe, just search for Kaltschale and recipe, and you'll get some recipes in English. The ones I've made have always been white wine based, but some use red wine, and others buttermilk. My favorite uses pluots (a cross between plums and apricots).

When making soup for dinner I generally just use whatever leftovers. Anything works well pretty much as long as you balance the flavors. That's where the real art is.

I aim for:

A moderate saltiness which depends on personal taste what that means in terms of adding salt. The main key is not to use iodized salt. Use kosher or sea salt or even the cheap plain salt that has a warning that it has not had iodine added, maybe soy sauce, even canned anchovies depending upon what else is going into the soup. If you over salt it, you can reduce the saltiness with potatoes in just about any form even potato flakes which will also thicken it, or by stirring a few eggs into the soup at the end which also can be used to thicken it. Lentils or split peas will also soak up extra saltiness

Just a hint of sweet which works best by having a single sweet ingredient rather than adding anything that's going to really sweeten the broth, so instead of adding anything like sugar or honey I might add, just before serving, a can of corn which also gives just a little of something to crunch.

Something to chew: That could be meat, maybe brussel sprouts, noodles

A little sour, so I have on hand a selection of vinegars to choose from, usually for me rice vinegar and worchestershire but again it depends on the other flavor profiles. For mock turtle soup that means slices of lemon with the peel

Umami: many ways to achieve that mouth feel, typically meat or stock but also eggs, a whole host of starches to pick from, okra, but when it comes to okra what I have available tends to be on the woody side so I'll often steam it separately until it's soft and then add it to the soup

For Sick Soup: Something easy to do when you are sick is to take a can of commercial soup, whatever variety, chicken noodle, chicken rice, vegetable, just not anything like cheese soup or tomato, heat the can of soup per whatever directions on the can and when it's hot add a splash of vinegar and then stir in an egg

White Chicken Chili Soup

2 large cans cannelini beans, drained
1 large can chopped green chilies
4 cups chicken stock
2 cups shredded cooked chicken
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp pepper
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 cup sour cream

1. Mix the beans, chilies, stock, chicken, cumin, oregano and pepper together and simmer for 1/2 hour.
2. Stir in cheese and sour cream, stir until smooth.

Delicious!

Hmm, I don't have a recipe for a chicken tortilla soup - I imagine I'd include whole black beans, some lime juice and cilantro, some stewed tomatoes, corn, chicken better than bullion, chicken, and either bell peppers or mild pickled banana peppers. Might need a few tablespoons of sugar. Serve with creamy queso cheese if any can be found - My local grocery store stopped carrying it. :/ White mild cheddar would be the secondary option.

Here's my chicken noodle soup recipe anyway, requires a giant crock pot, cut the recipe down for a smaller crock.
~3lbs. chicken breast or mix or breast and thigh, raw, trimmed, chunked
~1.5 lbs. noodles (wide egg or udon) or 1 lb noodles + 1 loaf white or swedish rye bread for dipping.
1 bunch of celery - discard the dried cut tips and the base, slice the rest including leaves
3 tbsp herb of choice: parsley, rosemary, or cilantro (The rosemary is stronger than the other two, might want to use only 2 tbsp)
1 lb of sliced or whole carrots, remove stems as necessary.
1 can whole kernel sweet corn
2 cans stewed tomatoes, cut smaller and remove stems as necessary. If you dislike tomatoes, you can substitute for a second can of corn or a can of okra, ends removed
1 tbsp black peppercorns
1 stick butter (unsalted sweet)
1 lg bag shredded whole milk mozzarella, preferably with a zip-lock closure

Directions: put chicken, celery, carrots, herbs and peppercorns in crock with water, cook on high 7+ hours. 1/2 hour before you want to serve it, cook the noodles as directed on package and add the precooked canned veggies, bullion, and butter. Add cheese to individual bowls as desired and pour hot soup over it to melt it - 2 tbsp per small bowl, 4 tbsp per large bowl.

Potage St. Germain (split pea and ham soup). Let the eater pour in a shot of cream sherry or golden sherry. Delicious. Sour cream for young people or those opposed to imbibing.

On one of my favorite food podcasts (the Food Schmooze) she recently had a show with someone who holds Soup Swaps -- everybody brings different soup to the party, and everybody goes home with multiple tupperwares filled with different types of soup. If you live near friends who cook, this sounds like a mighty fine plan!